Toyota Corolla 2012 News

Buying a used car is difficult enough in normal times.

Toyota Australia is recalling 48,000 Corolla and Rukus vehicles to check installation of the passenger side front airbag inflator.

Cars are either being built worse -- or companies are getting better at detecting faults.a range of models made over the last 10 years replacing potentially deadly Takata airbags in 1.3 million cars in Australia. a second, airbag-related recall for the Priusreplacing potentially deadly Takata airbags in 1.3 million cars in Australia

The Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 are joint winners, edging out the Hyundai i30 after an intensive three-day round of judging and more than 6000km of evaluation by nine COTY judges with more than 100 years of combined motoring experience.The result is no surprise, because the Japanese sports car twins have been COTY favourites since the day they were unveiled. They also embody the Carsguide mantra and COTY methodology: "Real cars, on real roads, for real people".The 86/BRZ is a landmark collaboration between Toyota and Subaru, classy engineering with a concentrated focus on driving enjoyment, and value packaging by both brands. That means a $29,990 starting price for the Toyota and driveaway pricing with free servicing on the Subaru."This is the era of the SUV and that makes the BRZ and 86 quite remarkable. It's a ground-breaking car, regardless of the badges it wears," says Carsguide editor, Paul Pottinger. "This car is a gift. Has anyone got out of either one without a smile on their face?" says James Stanford, summing up the majority feeling.The performance of the i30 is a surprise, as it edges the new Toyota Corolla to make the final four showdown alongside the Kia Sorento and Honda CR-V, which fly the flag for the SUV stars of 2012. "I really like the i30, and would give it my number one vote," says Chris Riley.The COTY showdown for 2012 involves 11 cars including The Twins -- as we dub 86 and BRZ -- nine judges, video and backup crews, and the photographer who insists on a 5am start on Day Two. The judging starts with a 120km run west from Sydney into the Blue Mountains, then laps around a testing and varied 44km loop from Mount Victoria.Each car has been chosen to reflect the best value and strongest sales, not just for the way it would look if it was fully loaded with an unrealistic bottom line. From the start, the troubled Ford Falcon is in trouble again. Its sales have slumped this year and, despite the addition of the excellent EcoBoost four-cylinder engine, it is still too old in too many ways to make much of an impact.But by even making the Top 10 COTY contest, it's a winner. It's a pity Ford has not done nearly enough to promote the car, and not enough people have driven a package that makes it the best riding and handling Falcon of its generation. The Ford Ranger, too, struggles. It's a pickup that can do double duty as a family car, and it led the world with five-star ute safety, but it cannot compete in such a classy field.From the Holden camp, the plug-in electric Volt is a window on the future that's not good enough for the present. We could live with the cramped back seat and the crimped boot and the confusing dashboard if the car was priced at around $35,000. But it's $59,990. "It's trying to be the car of the future but it falls down today," says Karla Pincott.The COTY crew is doing lots of laps on day one, cycling through the cars and usually going back-to-back with direct rivals such as the Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5. This is one mini-contest that produces a surprising bias towards the Honda, as the Mazda is beaten on boot space with a lower loading lip, value and the little things that make a difference to families.At the end of the day, as push comes to shove and the preliminary scores are tallied, the four finalists become clear -- although The Twins make it five if you're getting picky. Leading the near misses is the Corolla, which is narrowly trumped by the i30. The CX-5 also falls, and we lose the fun little Volkswagen Up."The Up is a great city car. But there is no auto and you really can't drive it with any comfort beyond the city,'' says Pottinger. Day two begins early but the focus has shifted, even if some of the judges cannot resist more driving time in cars like the Falcon and the CX-5, and even the Up and Ranger."This is a great chance to cover some miles," says James Stanford. By Day two the judges are separating into two camps, as the shortcomings of the Sorento and CR-V take them out of the final fight. The Honda is not strong enough in the engine room for most. Despite the classy Australian suspension settings, the Sorento is not good enough to claim a COTY crown.The i30 scores for its classy cabin, its affordable starting price, and an overall package which edges the Corolla despite the Toyota's impressive $19,990 starting point. The result comes down to the final voting, with each of the cars scored 4-3-2-1 by each of the nine judges. The Twins win. "This car is brilliant, and it's such a great drive," says Stanford. The Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ are also real cars, on real roads, for real people.PAUL POTTINGER1) BRZ/862) Hyundai i303) Kia Sorento4) Honda CR-VPAUL GOVER1) BRZ/862) Hyundai i303) Kia Sorento4) Honda CR-VKARLA PINCOTT1) BRZ/862) Hyundai i303) Kia Sorento4) Honda CR-VCRAIG DUFF1) BRZ/862) Hyundai i303) Kia Sorento4) Honda CR-VSTUART MARTIN1) BRZ/862) Hyundai i303) Kia Sorento4) Honda CR-VJAMES STANFORD1) BRZ/862) Hyundai i303) Kia Sorento4) Honda CR-VCHRIS RILEY1) Hyundai i302) BRZ/863) Kia Sorento4) Honda CR-VNEIL DOWLING1) Hyundai i302) BRZ/863) Kia Sorento4) Honda CR-VJOSHUA DOWLING1) Hyundai i302) Honda CR-V3) Kia Sorento4) BRZ/86 

The world's favourite car is better than it was, but still has a few flaws. The starting sticker, though, is a winner. "I'd rather spend five years in the i30 than three years in the Corolla,'' Paul Pottinger said at the COTY judging. And the cabin reflects a totally different design approach. It's still Toyota efficient, but it breaks away from the blandness with the potential for some personalisation. Visibility is great, despite a slightly pinched view through the rear window, but the real delight comes in the new driving position. Toyota has finally recognised that people don't like to sit with their hair brushing the roof or jammed up against the dash, which means you can sit back in comfort and also enjoy front seats that are nicely shaped and padding that's just right. The steering is light, the car is easy to park and even thought the boot is no bigger it is easier to load. It's also good to find. Full sized spare in the starting price car. So, how does it drive? It's very, very good for a Corolla, and good for a Japanese car. But I've just been spoiled by Golf 7. The Corolla gets along nicely enough, promises great fuel economy and is pretty quiet on all but the worst surfaces. But it doesn't have the limo-like cushiness or the library-quiet cabin of the Volkswagen. Now we come to the gearbox... And I have to say that CVTs are about as popular as brussel sprouts with the Carsguide crew. But Toyota's engineers have added bearnaise sauce with a system that almost -- but not quite --eliminates the horrible flaring and slipping clutch sound while also giving a seven-speed drivers mode that's not as bad as a fake manual. The overall impression is a car that's more complete, and returns the Corolla to the top of the small car heap. Toyota Corolla Ascent auto Price: from $21,990 Engine: 1.8-litre 16-valve four-cylinder Transmission: CVT (with seven-speed “manual” mode), front wheel drive Power: 103kW @ 6400rpm Torque: 173Nm @ 4000rpm Fuel use/emissions: 6.6 l/100km, tank 50 litres 91RON ULP; 152g/km Brakes/safety systems: Driver and front passenger airbags, front seat side, driver’s knee and curtain airbags, stability control (Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Traction Control). Dimensions: Length 4275mm, width 1760mm, height 1460mm, wheelbase 2600mm, cargo volume 280 litres, weight 1270kg Wheels/tyres: 16in steel wheels Win $5,000 in our People's Choice competition.  

Despite tasty hero cars led by the F-Type Jaguar and Aston Martin One-77, it's the real world cars that are of most interest.The return of the Nissan Pulsar, the unveiling of the Toyota Corolla and the first Sydney appearance of the Mazda6 and Mitsubishi Mirage are all proof that ordinary customers now rule the roost. As car sales track strongly towards an all-time record, it's real people spending their own money who are the real target for carmakers."If you get the product right, everything else follows," the top Aussie at Toyota Australia, Dave Buttner, tells Carsguide. "All the growth in sales this year is with private buyers, as government departments have been winding back and fleet sales are also down. Private buyers are confident and they are spending on the second-biggest purchase after their house."Nissan confirmed its commitment to the new-age PUlsar with a $19,990 starting price and a SSS under lights. "Pulsar is back and we have big plans," Bill Peffer, managing director of Nissan Australia, tells Carsguide.For Mazda, the new 6 is its first all-new arrival since the GFC and a pointer to the replacement for the top selling Mazda3. "You can see now where we're going," Doug Dickson, MD of Mazda Australia, says. And the baby Mirage? "It's something new for us, and it's going to bring a lot of people to the brand. I reckon we'll sell heaps," Mitsubishi marketing chief Paul Unerkov laughs. 

When I was a little bloke, a visit to the old Sydney Showgrounds was always a very special event.

The lift comes as manufacturers offer sweeteners such as hefty discounts or free on-road costs in the end-of-financial-year sales war.

The latest VFACTSs report has found the resource states - in Queensland and Western Australia - are driving a sales bonanza in new cars bought as rentals, meaning there should soon be a flood of quality used cars hitting the market.While the nation has recorded a 5.2 per cent increase in new car sales so far this year, Queensland is scorching ahead with a 13.5 per cent rise, ahead of Western Australia on 10.1 per cent. Adam Le Fevre, boss of Suzuki Auto Co which imports Suzukis to Queensland, said the growth in vehicles sales was mainly in rental vehicles which were up 91.6 per cent in Queensland and 65.3 per cent in WA.''If you look at where the growth is, it's in the rental market and that's from the mineral and energy boom,'' he said. ''Companies would appear to be renting vehicles on demand rather than holding the asset. ''They are probably being sold at a corporate level in NSW or Victorian company headquarters and registered in Queensland and Western Australia.''Mr Le Fevre predicted the boom in rental cars would lead to a flood of bargain-priced used cars in the next few years. ''These cars have got to come back into the market at some stage as good-quality, low-kilometre, well-maintained cars.'' While that might be good for buyers, Mr Le Fevre said it would have a negative impact on new car sales.''Unless we can find a market offshore for these vehicles, like New Zealand or Papua New Guinea, then it is going to make it difficult for new car dealers,'' he said.Mr Le Fevre said the rental boom more than offset the 3.9 per cent decrease in government spending on cars as departments put sales on hold during the Queensland election campaign. The Queensland increase came after three years of being one of the worst-performing states.Small cars and utilities were the favourite choice with the Mazda3 (1306 sales) the most popular, ahead of the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Navara, Toyota HiLux and Hyundai i30. The Holden Commodore languishes in sixth place in Queensland.FEBRUARY TOP SELLERSMazda3 3733Holden Commodore 2991Toyota Corolla 2991Holden Cruze 2880Hyundai i30 2433Toyota HiLux 2272Nissan Navara 2017

The Mazda3 scored another month at the top of the sales charts in February but Toyota Australia, which was best overall brand and equal second individually with the compact Corolla, said it is still unable to meet showroom demand.It is waiting for the resumption of full deliveries of the Corolla and its work-and-play HiLux utes and believes it will then have the firepower to tackle the Mazda3 head-on for sales supremacy."We're still not back to where we should be after the production problems last year, but we're getting there. We're looking to this month and April to get us back on track," the spokesman for Toyota Australia, Mike Breen, revealed yesterday. "We are holding more orders than we can fill. We're now being affected by global demand and the capacity in our factories."It's a matter of supply. We can only sell what arrives from Japan and Thailand."The February win for the Mazda3 was its third straight monthly success and came with deliveries of 3733 cars, well ahead of the Corolla and Holden Commodore in a tie for second on 2991.The Holden Cruze was not able to repeat its January result, when it outsold the Commodore for the first time, but still managed fourth overall with 2880 sales ahead of the Hyundai i30 on 2433.The February result gives the Mazda3 a 1404 margin after just two months of 2012, and around 25 per cent of its total sales, but Toyota is planning on at least 3200 sales a month for the Corolla once it can fill its pipeline.Although the Commodore was equal in second its sales were down by nearly 900 cars on the same month in 2011, with the Ford Falcon - only 18th in the charts - down by just on 800 in a reflection of the ongoing slide in large-car sales.But overall demand in February lifted by 6.0 per cent with a total of 85,723 deliveries for the month.The best performers, as usual, were SUVs which improved by 26.6 per cent on the same month in 2012, with compact SUV deliveries jumping by a massive 68.1 per cent.TOP 10 BRANDS - February 2012 (2012 YTD)Toyota: 14,849 (28,914 -1.7%)Holden: 9688 (18,749 0.3%)Mazda: 8689 (17,168 15.7%)Hyundai: 7412 (13,925 7.0%)Ford: 6951 (12,789 -8.7%)Nissan: 6227 (11,585 10.7%)Mitsubishi: 5166 (9732 0.8%)Volkswagen: 4132 (7498 35.6%)Subaru: 3225 (6830 -5.9%)Honda: 2603 (4182 -13.1%)